The Duke of Gloucester’s Sword: Prosthetic Props in the Repertory of Edmund Kean

Abstract

ABSTRACT Edmund Kean played the role of Richard III for almost twenty years, in which time the most enduring images of his performance included his sword. Theatrical legend has it that this sword was passed down through generations of Shakespearean actors and found its resting place in Laurence Olivier’s tomb. The significance of the sword as a theatrical relic can be located in the archival traces of Kean’s performance style, particularly in James H. Hackett’s 1826 annotated copy of Richard III. The sword’s role in the performance takes on even more significance as Kean aged and became more physically debilitated. A performer known for his dynamic physicality, Kean was also recorded as struggling with physical impairments as a child. Moving from a mythical ‘overcoming’ of bodily challenges to simulating disability onstage as Richard to actual physical debility later in life, Kean continued to use his sword to ‘prop’ him up, literally and figuratively, on the stage. The sword becomes a prosthetic object, an addition to the body that shapes its movement and becomes an extension of the body itself. I argue that Kean’s sword throughout his career showed off his prodigious physical skill and then became enmeshed in his bodily decline.